Travel Back In Time With One Very Special Sound

The sound of a lion attacking its prey or Godzilla’s roar: some sounds are easily replicated by filmmakers. But not all monsters are so easily imitated.

In feature films, Foley artists, named for sound pioneer Jack Foley, do their best to match sound to the drama. In the 1954 film Godzilla, the monster’s famous roar was created by running a resin-coated glove across a double bass.

Star Wars’ sound designer used the buzz of an old television set combined with the hum of an old projector to create the iconic sound of the lightsaber. And in nature documentaries, filmmakers resort to everything from custard powder in women’s stockings – to recreate sounds like polar bears skidding on ice – to an orange being slowly peeled – to replicate a predator ripping into a carcass.

But some monsters can’t be so easily impersonated. Some roars are driven by performance.

To celebrate 50 years of the Mercedes-AMG engine, we spoke to several South Africans about one very special sound.